SA Firefighter

Darius, That what i got told by my place of employment and CFS paid guys.

I guess you have to believe what someone tells you some times.

Relax, breath deep we are only talking about helmets!

Before i was made up, I had to take a few appliances as a Fire fighter to a number of diffrent jobs. Mind you I had been around a while and used the advice of some of the older guys that have been around longer than me but just dont want to be OIC.

I think you just got to make a judgment call on what you are responding to if you lack the years of experience, especially if the incident is of a technical nature.

Also you want get in trouble if you upgrade the call to get another appliance there with a Lt or Capt on board to let them take over incident control if you are uncomfortable or respond a DGO.

I got told years ago by our GO and one of our DGO's "Son you'll never get in trouble if you upgrade or respond someone for help. You will if you just try and hold the ball by yourself!"

A sort of very Australian quote but its true i guess.  

I looked at the Australian Standards for Fire fighting helmets ASNZ 4067: 2004 and could not find much on the life span of ten years.

As for the batch testing that is 9 helmets out of every manufactured batch which are then subjected to tests involving- Electrical insulation, Flame propagation, Convective heat exposure, Face shield tests, Impact energy attenuation, Penetration resistance, Retention system tests (chin strap) and Ear and Neck protection testing.

The only other thing stated from some manufacturers is that if the helmet is damaged in some way it should be returned for testing and if used in Compartment Fire Training it should be covered in an aluminiumised shield.

If the CFS is telling me ten years and my work is telling me the same that is good enough for me and that is where the so called "fact" came from as it is what I've been told to do from the Services I respond for. Maybe CFS got the ten years from a Manufacturers standard or a standard put in place by the CFS. I'm not really getting bent around the axles over it!

I'm waiting for a rep to get back to me from a company I deal with, which supplies my work helmets. Maybe he will have the right amount of years a helmet can live for.

As for the date stamp 24P I got told ten years from that date mate.

Yeah thats interesting Pip at work we throw them if they look  suspect or before ten years same at my CFS station. Spoke to paid CFS staff and been told the same.

Imagine the cost and logistical nightmare of trying to do batch testing in the CFS given the size of the organisation and area covered.

In my opinion I don't think it is a huge issue, probably bigger fish to fry on this topic especially fire fighters wearing the correct helmet for the correct task! i.e rural helmets wore at structural incidents and rural helmets at RCR incidents without the correct visor that is not shatter proof.

Windscreens are easy leave them alone, why tie up one of your crew dealing with something that does not need to be removed. Not blowing my own horn I've been stationed at two CFS brigades that have attended a lot of bad MVA's and 99.9% of the time the front windscreen has been left in place.

Removing them is a hang up from the old days when all glass was removed as it was easy due to construction methods on the vehicles back then. Also you did not go to an R.C.R. course it was a V.A.R. course (vehicle accident rescue).

God I'm starting to sound like an old bloke!

I hear Seaford struggle to get a crew especially during the day and thats from paid CFS staff.

Whats the problem? the community comes first if a volunteer brigade struggles to cover their patch and a paid station is put there to do the job I say good.

You must have what is best for the public, anyway nothing wrong with having both services in an area. Suburbs north and east of Adelaide have had both services for several decades now.

People have got to learn to stop pushing their own little agendas MFS stations will be put up in CFS areas over the years as the urban sprawl continues its called development. As will MFS areas become CFS areas as things change.

I've got mates in both services that don't like some of the changes but it's not about them or you, its whats best for the communities of South Australia.

Who cares if the appliance going is red or white as long as one gets there!

Just something to think about than worrying about our own little worlds.

Structure helmets have a life of ten years from the date stamp on the inside of the helmet (fact) and of cause it is not a good idea to drop your helmet, leave it in the sun when not in use and get huge scratches in it like any sort of helmet.

My equipment officer took my old Bullard of me just as it was looking a treat. Helmet was yellowed from getting hot and the reflective stickers had bubbles on them. Then he handed me my new glow in the dark white one. But the old girl still lives on hanging up on the wall next to my trashed motorbike helmet.

Ahhh the memories!

Bittenyakka I think the reason you should not wear a rural helmet at an R.C.R. incident is  the visor on them does not provide the shatter resistance of an urban helmet. I could be wrong but thats what I heard.

As for guys wearing rural PPE at a structure and PBI gold to rural incidents I think it can be stopped at brigade level with proper training and policing from Capt's Lt's and Seniors.

But in saying that I'm a bit naughty and wear my urban helmet everywhere. Don't like the rural helmets, never felt fatigued due to wearing it and already have two sets of gear cant be bothered with lugging around another helmet.
 

Use to work for a construction company. Could go pretty much anytime as long as it was a big job. For example strike teams, my boss use to own a house in the hills so understood the need.

Now I work in the fire industry and have been told by my employer that my number one responsibility for emergency response is my work.

I know someone working over there training there police. As for being a Fire Fighter in Iraq you would have to be nuts as the bad guys sometimes set up a second I.E.D. to go off on the arrival of police and emergency services to the incident. If you want quick cash for a while as an ESO head to somewhere like Kuwait.

The money is good in Iraq/ Kuwait as it is in American dollars and it is tax free.

Heard some of the jobs over there are o.k. as you just concentrate on being a fire fighter not doing medical-security as some industrial fire postions call for.

Its funny how some paid and volunteer fire fighters get bent around the axles over where paid station are going to be put and not put.

Really when you think about when changes happen some MFS and some CFS will get annoyed by it, but at the end of the day as long as the most efficient and quickest service is delivered to the community who cares. Is that not one of the reasons we are fire fighters paid, volunteer and some of us both.

In my opinion we should be one service then we could chop out some of the dead wood at the top of both services trees and stop replicating mirror image departments in both services.

I heard from a little birdy that MFS are seriously looking obviously at Seaford, Mt. Barker and maybe even a station somewhere in between Glen Osmond and Mt. Barker so there is not such a gap between stations. 

In one way i guess more paid stations are not a bad thing. More paid jobs for CFS guys that want to turn what they like doing into a career. Plus a quicker turnout for the public.

I know both MFS/CFS brigades sometimes have trouble getting crews it's just the nature of the beast unfortunately. If it's not their full-time job hard to get there sometimes.

See your point 24P, probably would be a waste of time and money putting a retained MFS station there. If Mt. Barker is getting so big a single 24/7 MFS station would be worth it but I'm guessing it wouldn't take to much pressure of the CFS there as they would have to still respond. The positives I guess is the public are always guaranteed a quick response and more fire stations = full-time jobs for people that want to head that way.

I guess the real invasion of MFS into CFS area is Seaford.